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Creon - The Tragic Hero

 

            Aristotle wrote an analysis on tragedy called The Poetics. Aristotle's book on tragedy is "still considered one of the most important documents ever written" on tragedy (Aristotle). Aristotle outlines a tragic figure to have five characteristics. Aristotle's outline of a tragic hero can be found in Antigone. In Antigone, Antigone commits suicide after defying the kings law to follow her religion and burry her brother. Antigone, the king's son and the king's wife all commit suicide because of the kings decisions. The kings arrogance did not allow him to see that he was losing his family. In Antigone, the king, Creon can be considered a tragic hero because he meets all the characteristics of a tragic hero that Aristotle defined. .
             In Aristotle's book, "The Poetics," a tragic figure possess five characteristics. The first of the five is the tragic flaw. The hero's tragic flaw is "a moral weakness in character" eventually leading to the "disaster" (Brown). The tragic flaw leads the character towards the wrong decisions. Aristotle's definition says that the character is "always larger than life" and that it is their decisions that affect others and that "seem to shake the world itself" (Brown). The figure must also be of high nobility or high stature. The character's tragic flaw leads him to the third characteristic, the down fall. The character's downfall causes the character to fall from that high nobility or stature. The consequence that comes from the downfall is of "great suffering" (Brown). The character's downfall causes suffering or death in the characters life. The final characteristic is the realization. The realization comes to the tragic figure too late as the downfall and suffering have already struck.
             Creon fulfills the characteristics of a tragic flaw in Antigone. Creon displays arrogance as his tragic flaw in Antigone. Creon's arrogance does not allow him to see that he is pushing his family towards death.


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